Wire rope clips and wedge sockets under ANSI and OSHA rules

July 26, 1994

Mr. D. Michael Barr
General Superintendent
Martin G. Imbach, Inc.
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Mr. Barr:

This is in response to your January 26 letter requesting a waiver from an America National Standard Institute (ANSI) requirement addressing the use of wire rope clips in conjunction with wedge sockets. I apologize for the delay in responding to your inquiry.

The ANSI standard in question, ANSI A10.5c-1992, has not been formally adopted by OSHA, and therefore the ANSI provisions are not OSHA requirements to which the "waiver" (or "variance") procedures of the OSH Act would apply. OSHA does, however, frequently make reference to ANSI standards as evidentiary support for citations under the Act's general duty clause. Your question, then, is really whether OSHA would cite an employer under the general duty clause for using a wire rope clip in a manner contrary to ANSI A10.5c-1992.

If an ANSI standard has not been adopted as an OSHA requirement, OSHA can independently evaluate whether noncompliance with an ANSI provision in a particular circumstance would also constitute a violation of the general duty clause. With regard to the use of a wire rope clip with a wedge socket, please be advised that in applications involving vibration, such as pile driving and clam shell operations, we would agree a wire rope clip may be used to clip the dead end of the rope to the live end to prevent the socket from working loose and the rope from jumping out of the groove of the wedge. The clip should be hand tightened with a wrench and not torqued to normal clip termination values. OSHA recommends, however, that a clip specifically designed for use with wedge sockets be used in this application.

For wedge socket applications not involving vibration, the policy is to use a wedge socket clip or to place a wire rope clip around the dead end of the line by clamping a short piece of rope, of the same diameter, to the tail.

If we can be of any further assistance, please contact me (Ext. 150) or Mr. Dale Cavanaugh (Ext. 149) of my staff at (202) 219-8136.

Sincerely,
Roy F. Gurnham, P.E., J.D.
Director Office of Construction and Maritime
Compliance Assistance

(For letter of inquiry, see printed copy)

(For Riggers Corner article, see printed copy)

(For images, see printed copy)

[Requester letter reproduced on OSHA page; omitted here.]